People who keep doing some work in their field after they retire may enjoy better physical and mental health than those who stop work completely or switch to another area of work, according to a U.S. study.

    Researchers from the University of Maryland said the findings suggest that prospective retirees should consider moving into so-called "bridge employment" as a transition to full retirement.

    For their study, Wang and his colleagues used data on more than 12,000 workers in a U.S. health study begun in 1992. Participants, who were between the ages of 51 and 61 at the outset, were surveyed every two years over a six-year period.

    Overall, Wang's team found, people who went into some form of bridge employment reported lower rates of major diseases like high blood pressure, heart disease, diabetes and arthritis during the study period than their counterparts who went straight into full retirement.

    The findings were not explained by older age or worse initial health among people who opted for full retirement, the investigators report in the Journal of Occupational Health Psychology.

    On top of their better physical health, "bridge" workers also tended to report fewer mental health problems, such as depression.

    The same mental health benefits were not seen, however, when retirees took part-time work in other fields -- possibly, Wang said, because many of these people may have taken those jobs out of financial need rather than choice.

    He noted that the lack of benefit could also stem from the fact that these retirees had to adjust to an unfamiliar job position or had to make lifestyle changes.

    Bridge work, particularly in one's accustomed field, may benefit physical and mental health for a number of reasons, according to Wang.

    In general, he explained, such work may help older adults maintain the active lifestyles they had during their careers and decrease any stress they might feel from the transition into retirement.

    Wang said when it comes to mental health, for instance, bridge work may help by allowing people to keep some of the "role identity" that they have formed over their careers.

    Staying active in general, not only through work, can also benefit retirees' physical health, Wang noted. He added, however, that any mental health benefits are likely to depend on the type of activity -- whether it is something that the person truly enjoys, and that helps ease any stress of moving into retirement.

    据美国一项研究表明，退休后仍然在其以往所从事的领域工作的人身心健康状况都要优于那些完全不再工作或者改行的人。

    马里兰大学的研究者们研究表明那些面临退休的人应该考虑踏上所谓的"再就业之桥"作为一个退休的完美过渡。

    对于他们的研究，王老师所带领的研究小组使用了1992年美国超过12,000位工人的健康状况报告。这些参与者们开始都为51至61岁，之后每两年测试一次，持续了六年。

    王老师的研究小组一直发现一些去再就业桥的人对于主要疾病如高血压、心脏病、糖尿病、关节炎等的发病率比参与研究中那些直接完全退休的人要低得多。

    职业健康心理杂志的调查员认为，这些发现不能用选择完全退休的人上了年纪或是原本身体状况来解释。

    在身体健康状况较为突出的再就业者中，出现例如抑郁症之类的心理问题似乎也更少。

    然而这些心理健康的好现象并未体现于退休后从事其他行业兼职的人身上-王老师说，这可能是因为他们中许多人做这些工作只是出于经济因素考虑而不是真心喜欢。

    他同时指出没有收入来源，使得这些退休人员不得不从事他并不熟悉的工作，以求生活状态的改变。

    据王老师说，不间断的工作尤其是在已习惯的行业，可以从很多方面使人身心受益。

    他解释道，总之这样的工作有利于退休人员保持以往积极的生活方式，同时减少由完全退休所带来的一切压力。

    王老师谈到心理健康时，例如：不间断工作可能会因能够保持其以往工作形成的一些"角色身份",而使其身心健康受益。

    王老师指出，不仅仅通过工作，一直保持积极地心态，也有益于退休人员的身体健康。然而，任何有益于心理健康的行为都有赖于积极的状态-不管是不是他真正喜欢的，都有益于减轻进入完全退休状态的压力